Aftermath: sad girly king Jones was no Sid Barrett -- Helen, 08:55:24 05/12/10 Wed
I agree, Brian Jones was no Sid Barrett. Sid Barrett wrote and sang strange, and strangely moving, songs, and he got them put on records, a very imporant thing to do, if you want other people to hear them.

The choice of adjectives used to describe Brian Jones is telling. He's not a golden prince, he's a girly king. (Ick.)Dreamy. Brian makes girls and girly men dreamy, but was Brian Jones dreamy? It's not a word that comes to my mind when I think of him. Perhaps he made a lot of plans for things that he was going to do , but he never did them. There's probably a word for that. Idler. Dabbler. Underachiever. "Interested in the process, not the product"...one kind way to put it. (Isn't he a bit like you and me?)

"The difference between the artist and the neurotic is that the artist completes his work." However, some people complete work, and they are not artists, they are just hacks.

I applaud these people for putting on their play. I suspect they are hacks, not artists, but, not having seen the play, I have insufficient information, to put it mildly.

However, I can say, the review makes me cringe for Brian. What a surprise.

"...There have been far slicker and smoother jukebox shows than “Aftermath,” the blunt, rough and deliciously caustic new storefront musical from writer-director Ronan Marra that tells the sad, true-life story of one Brian Jones — dreamy, girly king of the mystical instrument, a sensitive fashion plate surrounded by harder edged rockers, a brilliant multi-instrumentalist who was dead by the age of 27, and the original leader of a little British rock band called The Rolling Stones.

...The success of the Stones has always flowed from the fusion of a fascinating blend of femme flamboyance (personified by the flashy and ambitious Jagger) and street-cred rock machismo (Richards, who had the guts and chops to diffuse the Jaggereseque). So where did the outsider Jones fit into the hegemonic dominance of rock's yin and yang? Was Jagger mostly horrified at the presence of an intensified version of himself? Did Jones' ambitions of acting and stardom just drive Richards deeper and deeper into the musical essentialism necessary to the Stones' success? Or, like so many rock stories, was it really all about the drugs and the jealousy and the pressure?
Marra has forged clever little scenes that get at all those issues with a series of glancing blows. In a delicious take-down of the inability of the U.S. media to deal with the arrival of rock 'n' roll, you see the Stones squirming through interviews, Jagger secretly loving it all. You see Jones escaping to play sitar with that mystical fellow traveler George Harrison (amusingly played by Andrew Yearick) and you see a girl, Anita Pallenberg (the excellent Simone Roos) driving the boys apart, living the life and paying the price.
“Aftermath” is sufficiently clear-eyed not to paint Jones as the unsung genius, the Stones' equivalent of Syd Barrett (the hero of Tom Stoppard's “Rock 'N' Roll”). But “Aftermath” is really about the formative years of a band that brilliantly exploited cultural collisions and appropriations, driving through cracks, covering bases and rocking on as cultures changed, communism fell and the rewards got bigger and bigger...

Brian Jones' Massive Debt/Estate -- Helen, 08:35:36 02/15/10 Mon
First of all, I would like to say that maybe Brian Jones did not die in debt. Brian Jones may never have paid his bills, not once, for all I know, but he had worked and earned millions. All that money was stolen by Allen Klein. If it is true that Allen Klein owed the Stones 17 million, and Charlie and Bill settled for a small portion of that amount, 200,000 then Klein could and should have paid off Brian's bills any time that he wanted to. (Assuming people were dunning the Stones office for their money.) See the item in the list below from "Exile on Main Street".

Note on the list: It's been a long time since I've been motivated to search the 'net for Brian Jones items. You might think there would be a good amount of interest in his MASSIVE DEBT and his screwed up but lucrative ESTATE, which is still around. But no, there's almost nothing out there. (It could just be the search feature doesn't work as well as it used to, years ago.)

See below, the items I found yesterday. There was one about a guitar licensed by the Brian Jones estate that I missed, and then there's Deb's post from Terry Rawlings' book that I'm going to add to this thread. I couldn't find the one about the grocery store that got a check for Brian's tab twelve years later; if anyone has that story, please add it to this thread.

Doors Film: When You're Strange -- Helen, 12:45:29 07/03/10 Sat
Review of a new Doors movie by Kevin Martinez. Notable for including Brian Jones in the "tragic deaths" paragraph, although they still have to give the band name, apparently because Brian Jones is not a household name. My comments in brackets.

"Almost four decades have passed since the death of Jim Morrison, lead singer of the American rock band the Doors. Morrison was not the only famous musician of the 1960s to meet an untimely end. Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, and others also died under tragic circumstances, usually drug-related. Why the early deaths? And what was it about the era that produced such unique artistic individuals? And why are such artists so few in 2010? [IT WASN'T JUST FAMOUS STARS THAT DIED, SO MANY ORDINARY KIDS DID, TOO, AND IT'S BECAUSE DRUGS AREN'T REALLY GOOD FOR YOU.]

Director Tom DiCillo’s latest film, When You’re Strange, [GOOD TITLE] is an unsuccessful attempt to answer some of these questions. There are no surprises in this film for fans of the music, and yet it does manage to humanize the members of the Doors and offer some partial insights for those unfamiliar with the so-called “counterculture” of the 1960s [WHO WOULD THAT BE?] .

At times, the narration, written by DiCillo and narrated by actor Johnny Depp, is too much of an uncritical tribute to Jim Morrison—for example, describing him as a “shaman” when he is onstage. [THE FIRST PERSON I EVER HEARD DESCRIBED AS A SHAMAN ON STAGE WAS... NEIL DIAMOND...AND THIS WAS BY A COLLEGE TEACHER THAT TAUGHT A CLASS ON SHAMANISM. SHAMANS ARE OFTEN SICKLY AND SCREWED UP PEOPLE THAT CONDUCT OTHERWORLD TRIPS FOR THEIR CLAN AND A SEANCE AND A ROCK CONCERT ARE PROBABLY A RATHER SAMEY EXPERIENCE FOR THE AUDIENCE.]

Nonetheless, a considerable effort has been made...

[OBLIGATORY COMMUNIST BS:] "Ultimately, from the sociological point of view, rock ‘n’ roll was the product of the growing confidence of American working class youth after Second World War, and also the breakdown of racial barriers in the face of the mass struggles of the 1950s. The desire to push the musical boundaries and abandon the old social conventions went along with those processes. Popular music then caught on to and helped nourish the anti-establishment sentiment of the late 1960s and early 1970s."

[TRIP CORRECTION HERE: Rock and Roll was a commercial product and it was delivered through the radio and the TV and the movies. It came from corporations like RCA and Capitol Records. It was not middle class America that wanted racial barriers down, but rock music, like other types of pop music before had done, worked as a tool, or a weapon, if you will, to make middle class America accept the unacceptable. They did, although to this day there are legions who would escape back to Leave It To Beaver land if they could. -HH ]

Brian's Children -- firebird, 16:06:58 03/20/11 Sun
How many children did Brian have?,Who are they?,Where are they?,Do they know each other?,Have they met the other Stone's,Have they met Brian's family.Sorry so many question :-)

My Owky-Dowky book list -- Helen, 10:01:09 06/12/10 Sat
Mandy Aftel, Death of A Rolling Stone. Mandy, says she was a Brian fan/psychologist that knocked on Keith's door on Cheyne Walk and he let her in and then handed her over to Stu. Good read, harrowing Brian stuff.

Stanley Booth, The True Adventures of The Rolling Stones. Good read, seemed to have a lot of heart, probably largely made up years after he had crossed the Stones' path, esp. the Brian parts.****

Laura Jackson, Golden Stone. Found this fairly icky at the time, but if you are interested in Brian the Golden Child, this is good. Donovan and Linda said to be lurking behind the scenes on this one.

A.E. Hotchner, Blown Away. Attacks Mick Jagger but probably was written to get the Stones off the hook for "killing" Brian. Good read, as fiction pretending to be social commentary. Hoax. ****

Geoffrey Giuliano, Paint It Black. I seem to remember enjoying this but I don't think I ever finished his murder stuff as it was so obviously BS. Does try to work out everything everybody else said into one coherent plot. Hoax.

Terry Rawlings, Who Killed Christopher Robin. Made ten factual errors on the first page (or something like that). I think he lost his respect for Brian as human being somewhere along the way, it happens, esp. with the male writers. Highlights the bad side of Brian, fun to read if you are in the mood for that. Hoax.

Tony Sanchez, Up and Down with the Rolling Stones. Disgruntled former employee. Too much Keith for me, Brian stuff probably made up, Cotchford stuff so muddled it is not clear who is who.

Google "Brian Jones Haircut" -- Helen, 18:05:44 10/16/10 Sat
4270 hits for "brian jones haircut", and the first six pages on google really are about people with Brian Jones' haircut. (That was enough for me.) Thank you, Noel Gallagher, for saying "Brian Jones haircut" Half the quotes seemed to be your one comment, endlessly echoed across the world wide web.

But this was my favorite comment:
"...Love, who played Brian Jones, haircut-wise..."

With Famous Friends as an ingredient, Brion Gysin didn't need to succeed.

I don't know why they say he didn't have a family, he had a mother and a father somewhere, and probably some brothers and sisters. And exactly what was he subverting?

So, that's the famous dream machine, eh? Not what I expected at all. Looks like the soul-less artwork found in Catholic churches after Vatican II. No video of the machine in action.

Does anyone believe the story about the bus ride, the flickering light and the trees? Sounds like bosh to me. If those trees created something special, everyone that rode the bus would notice. "Hey, driver, stop the bus, we're starting to see things!"

"Why can't I?" asked the computer -- Helen, 15:02:04 08/02/10 Mon
Demon Seed, directed by Donald Cammell on Turner Classic Movies tonight 4 AM Eastern. Yet another boring Julie Christie movie(so good looking but she looks like a man). Did she ever make a movie that wasn't dull? Which one was that?

Was looking forward to this until I read the review, then I wasn't. Then I got to the bottom of the page and read the Robert Vaughn comments,then I was, kind of.

From some review, somewhere on the net: --"But in going through the motions, even on the action scenes, DEMON SEED just becomes incredibly dull and the performances reflect that. The machines aren't the only things cold and distant here. Christie, one of the greatest living actresses [YOU CALL THAT ACTING?], never seems comfortable in her part, so it's hard to relate to her discomfort at being Proteus' breeding chamber. Fritz Weaver is even worse, as lofty as Richard Burton in his hammiest days. Weaver doesn't understand that sounding important doesn't make you important.

Yet, in the midst of all this, DEMON SEED has a few things that really stand out. The most constant thing being Proteus itself, voiced by Robert Vaughn. Vaughn's voice work is unbilled but it's unmistakable, even behind some spooky computer tweaking. The voice is cold and intelligent, but full of longing. When he asks his father, "Dr. Harris, when are you going to let me out of this box?" it successfully illicits sympathy for the so-called "demon" of the title.

As pure as Proteus' intentions may be, his actions are cruel. In one sequence, what could be considered a surgical procedure by some could easily be considered a sexual assault by others. The hulking machine over the cringing and restrained Christie is frightening.

There are plot holes that haven't been mentioned, but all the problem areas have already been covered. DEMON SEED is ambitious, perhaps too ambitious. Cammell (with the help of Vaughn's voice work) manages to produce some amazing images and some interesting schools of thought. But his sights are grander than the material could handle. Watching Cammell's attempt at psychological horror, it's clear why Kubrick chose Stephen King for his source material." [THIS REVIEWER DOESN'T ADMIRE DEAN KOONTZ. ME, EITHER].

Brian Jones' jacket, source: Linda Lawrence -- Helen, 15:53:56 07/23/10 Fri
Well, I seem to see some of Brian's strut in this jacket, not pictured here, but it is at the site. Although it is suspiciously too perfect, sold with the receipt made out to Brian, no less.

Sale 18524 - Pioneers of Popular Culture. Vintage at Goodwood., 15 Aug 2010
Goodwood
Pre-register to bid in the auction saleroom on the day in person
Back to catalogue
Place Bid or Track Lot
Lot No: 155
Brian Jones's jacket,
1963,charcoal grey wool with matching lining, black velvet-faced collar, three-button front and cuffs, double vent, inside pocket labelled ''John Stephens Custom Built Clothes For Men 189, Regent Street London, W.1.'', sold with a receipt made out to Brian (found in one of the pockets), and a copy of The Sunday Times News Review, August 2003, which features a photograph, by Terry O'Neill, of Brian wearing the jacket

Brian Jones first son -- Sue Gold (happy), 10:52:37 07/13/10 Tue
Brian's first son with teenager Valerie tracked down Graham Ride who married her. Graham told him about his parents as Valerie was dead by that time.

"As American youth of that era, we intrinsically connected with the blues, if for no other reason that it awakened a shadow of recognition subconsciously, a sense that in the blues there is an anchorage, a permanent foundation and wellspring from which so much contemporary music of the time would evolve. And it felt so good. (Clapton has since made it his mission to credit all the great American blues artists and has worked professionally with many of them, most notably B.B. King.)"

Phooey! The Stones connected with American youth when they stopped playing the blues and started playing Beatles type music. 2. American kids connected with the Beatles music, the appeal based on English melody and European harmonies, a hell of a lot more than they ever connected with the blues. 3. Very few American kids ever wanted to hear the blues, and if they did it was mostly because they were trying to score points with their imaginary friends like Keith Richards and Eric Clapton. They were programmed by articles like this, which exist for no other reason, really, than to elevate the blues (wrongly) above other types of music. 4. Even though American kids heard those British musicians talking about the blues, probably only one out of thousand ever went out and bought a blues record so they could hear what Muddy Waters sounded like. 5. The Stones made much better records when they were copying the Beatles than when they were copying the blues.

1958 - Jerry Lee Lewis took out a full-page ad in Billboard Magazine to explain about his second divorce and third marriage to his 14 year old cousin Myra. [THUS GIVING BIRTH TO A MILLION AND ONE JOKES ABOUT SOUTHERNERS HAVING SEX WITH THEIR COUSINS.]

1965 - The Beatles received their MBE (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) awards. [THUS SHOWING THAT THEY WERE BLESSED BY THE SECRET MASTERS THAT RUN THE WORLD FROM THEIR HIDDEN CAVE AND WHO PICK OUT THE WINNERS FOR THE QUEEN.]

1966 - The Beatles were first heard using reversed tape in the song "Rain." It was a 'B' side to the song "Paperback Writer." [THUS SHOWING THEY WERE INTO CROWLEYISM AND MESSING WITH OUR YOUNG MINDS].

1968 - The Rolling Stones released "Jumpin' Jack Flash." [THUS TAKING THE STAGE WITH THE BEATLES AS THE ONLY TWO GROUPS LEFT FROM THE BRITISH INVASION THAT WERE STILL PUTTING OUT DECENT RECORDS.]

1969 - Brian Jones announced he was leaving The Rolling Stones because he didn't agree with the band's musical direction. [AND EVERYONE LAUGHED AND SAID "HE MUST HAVE BEEN FIRED, WHAT KIND OF DOPE WOULD QUIT THE ROLLING STONES?" SO LITTLE DID WE KNOW ABOUT BAND DYNAMICS IN THOSE DAYS.]

1969 - David Bowie's single, "Space Oddity," was released to coincide with the first lunar landing. [AND IT WAS A VERY BIG HIT EVEN AS THE ENTIRE SIXTIES WAS FLOATING AWAY IN TIN CANS ON THIS VERY SAME DATE.]

1975 - John Lennon made his last TV appearance to sing "Imagine." [DO WE SEE A PATTERN HERE OF GOOD THINGS ENDING AND NOTHING GOOD COMING ALONG? THERE WILL BE PRECIOUS FEW SONG RELEASES WORTH MENTIONING FROM NOW ON, NO MATTER WHAT THE DATE.]

1976 - Paul McCartney and Wings set a record for an indoor concert crowd when 67,100 fans gathered in Seattle, WA. [BIG WHIP. THE POOR CROWD WAS TORTURED AND NOT SMART ENOUGH TO KNOW IT. ]

1979 - Chuck Berry was charged with 3 counts of tax evasion. [AND HE COULD HAVE BEEN CHARGED WITH A LOT WORSE CRIMES, I'LL BET.]

1979 - Chuck Berry performed at the White House at the request of U.S. President Carter. [CHUCK BERRY, DESPITE ALL HIS GREAT RECORDS, WOULD PROBABLY HAVE SLIPPED AWAY FORGOTTEN BUT FOR JOHN LENNON CONSTANTLY SAYING "CHUCK BERRY" IN ANSWER TO INTERVIEW QUESTIONS.]

1992 - Law enforcement officials in Texas called for a ban on Ice-T's "Cop Killer" album. [DOWNHILL.]

1996 - A Metallica concert at a small club in San Francisco was broadcast live via the Internet. [BROADCAST WITH VIDEO? NAW, PROBABLY NOT.]

2000 - Sinead O'Connor revealed that she was a lesbian in an article that would later be published by "Curve" in their July-August 2000 issue. [I REMEMBER HER HAIRCUT, DON'T REMEMBER HER BIG SONG. WHAT WAS IT? SHE WAS SCREAMING WITH A BALD HEAD, I CAN STILL SEE HER VIDEO IN MY MIND'S EYE.]

2010 - WHILE MAKING COMMENTS ON THIS LIST, HELEN HALL REALIZES SOME MAJOR MEMORY BANKS HAVE BEEN ERASED BY THE ALZHEIMER'S VIRUS. OR, MAYBE THAT LATER STUFF JUST WASN'T WORTH REMEMBERING.

Outlaws of rock and roll -- Helen, 08:55:34 05/30/10 Sun
There was a time when I was happy as a clam to hear that Elvis was the King of Rock and Roll and John Lennon was a house husband and that Keith Richards was a real rock and roll outlaw. But, one day I began thinking, what are they TALKING ABOUT?

Let's take Keith Richards, for example. As far as I can see, he is exactly like Edward Kennedy, a person that might break the law, but he doesn't have to worry about going to jail, it's not going to happen. That's not an outlaw. That's a pampered pet of some powerful people. If Keith was an outlaw, he would have been shot dead like a dog in that basement in the South of France. That's what happens to outlaws. They get hunted down and shot. If you want to admire outlaws, look up "was shot and killed by police" and see if you admire that person. (You might!) Or, look up "serving a life sentence", another way you can find some real outlaws. If the prosecutor is asking to have you put away for 20 to 30 years, you are an outlaw, this very minute! But don't tell me Keith Richards is an outlaw. Keith is a pampered pet, and he lives like a pampered pet. You'd think some investigative reporter type would have noticed this.

Mick on the Larry King TV Show -- Helen, 09:06:38 06/01/10 Tue
Whilst typing away at my keyboard last night, I heard a horrible noise coming over my shoulder from the TV set. Slowly it came to me..."Eh, that sounds like the Rolling Stones..." It WAS the Rolling Stones, some Exile thingie being played as a lead-in to the Larry King show. Well, well, Mr. Mick Jagger, looking strange, pickled in preservative of some sort. What did they do to his eyes? They are almost all pupil, now, and tan-colored. I recall a Mick Jagger with big, baby blue peepers. (Was that Photoshop, the Early Years? Or did some Director of Diversity say to the crew "Make his eyes look brown"?)

Exile: I could give a rat's ass about Exile. Played it once. "Muddy swamp music" - WTF. Exile was hype then, and it's hype now. Kids who grew up in the 70s may not know any better. (Turned funny).

The Larry King Show - this show is like a buffet meal at a chain restaraurant in a crummy part of town. You are hopeful it will be a decent meal, but you know the odds are against it. The introduction of the guest is like walking past the desserts. Oh, lovely! Mick Jagger is a dish of sparkling jello topped with fake whip cream! Looks tempting. Once the meat and potatoes of the show starts, the interview is, just as you feared, real slop.

Larry King: "How did you get the name The Rolling Stones?" Yeah, that's a fine question, Larry. Just your speed, 40 years behind the times.

Most interesting part of the show: Larry King and Mick Jagger together in profile. They both have the same big, ugly nose. I never knew that!

Second most interesting part of the show (to me) - Mick babbled something about how some people are just interested in the process, and he is the one that has to say "Stop". (We have to finish this record and get the product out). That's very close to what I said about Brian Jones in the Aftermath review below. Brian fans may "interpret" (as we do) that Mick's remark was a reference to Brian Jones, and to Helen Hall, of the Brian Jones Trip!)

Conclusion: This was the worst Mick Jagger TV appearance I have ever seen. Larry King was Larry King, and Mick's mojo was NOT working. Past his due date, I think, and beating a dead horse like Exile for a day's work doesn't help.

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